Oh, what a lovely day spent with Marie Claire SA and a lot of other beautiful people to honour the late great dame of contemporary Zulu music- or the rock star, as writer Bongani Mandondo put it- Mama Busi Mhlongo.
Speaker after speaker, including fashion designer Marianne Fassler and Mam' Tu Nokwe, gave testimony to what a beautiful soul Mam’ Busi was and in celebrating her life laughter, sadness and pride was shared by all at the late afternoon tea at the Malva Store on Arts on Main. I had the most splendid of times and hope, as Mpumi Mcata of BLK JKS put it, that more initiatives will be convened not only to honour those who are no longer with us but those who still live among us, contributing to South Africa’s cultural landscape as Mam’ Busi did.
After the tea we were all treated to a 5 minute clip of the last song Mam’ Busi recorded; a collaboration with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, which Nicola (a very nice lady who took care of Mam’ Busi during her last days) said would probably be released soon.
Congratulations to Marie Claire (and Felipe Mazibuko, who hatched the idea of this honorary tea alongside editor Aspasia Karras), Estee Lauder and all the beautiful people who came out to celebrate a national treasure. And thank you to the Marie Claire team for a lovely time at the Troyeville Hotel afterwards. A special day indeed!
In Busi Mhlongo we haven’t lost a legend but we’ve gained a cultural icon for an ancestor.
Thanks to Zodwa Kumalo-Valentine for some of the pics above ;-)
1 comment:
I was there. It was lovely. And your blog is a beautiful representation of the afternoon. Thank you!!
OrangeMoon
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